In recent years both passive and active safety improving systems and arrangements have been developed in the automotive industry. Active safety systems are systems capable of improving the safety of driving while passive safety systems are systems capable of improving occupant safety during a collision. Notwithstanding the fact that such development of safety systems and arrangements has taken place, vehicle accidents are still a major concern worldwide. In terms of overall occupant safety, both active safety systems and passive safety systems are important. However, today's active safety systems have a considerable potential for improvement, and it is a greater advantage if an accident can be avoided by an active safety system than if damages incurred by an accident are alleviated by a passive safety system.
Several problems arise when designing active safety arrangements. One such problem is that if an active safety arrangement is designed to autonomously avoid an accident, the driver will feel that he or she is out of control of the vehicle during such autonomous accident avoidance. Further, a system intervening to such an extent may raise further safety concerns, since such a system has to rely on input data from different sensors which may give erroneous information that can lead to an erroneous interpretation of a driving situation.
Accordingly, in view of the above, there is a need for an improved driver assist arrangement capable of assisting a driver of a vehicle in potentially hazardous driving situations.